Alternate Reality: Shift
by Celeste5502
Summary: The next chapter of 'Alternate Reality' has arrived: A thief called the Copycat with the ability to shape-shift has come to Domino, but his attempted heist might become a small blessing for Joey...Again, please R&R!
1. Prologue: Easy Heist

Author's note: I want to say thank you to **dancers of the night** for giving such an incredibly sweet review; I honestly didn't expect such raving for only my first fanfic! Well, here's what you've been waiting for…

Prologue: Easy Heist

At a small museum located in an out-of-the-way town in Japan, a weary nighttime security guard sat at the front desk, passing the time by playing solitaire. After managing to beat himself for the fourth time in a row, he took a glance at his watch.

_Five minutes until midnight,_ he thought. _The Copycat should be here at any minute. _

Just that day, a note had mysteriously appeared on the door to the museum. It simply read:

_Tonight I shall steal the Eye of Horus._

The signature was the Copycat's typical insignia: a picture of a cat drawn entirely in red.

Upon discovery of the note, action had been taken almost immediately. The Copycat was already wanted in various towns throughout Japan for theft, and catching him had become top priority for almost every police station. Now, surrounding the entire parameter of the museum were dozens of police officers, attack dogs, and a couple of squad cars. The guard took a glance at the security camera monitors beside him and saw that around a glass case which held the Eye of Horus stood some of the police's toughest, brawniest men, looking ready to kill.

_There's no way that he'll be able to get away this time,_ he thought, grinning to himself.

He started setting up for another game when he heard a noise from behind him.

Before he could react, a cloth drenched in a sweet-smelling liquid was suddenly slammed over his mouth. The guard tried to get away, but the assailant's grip was too much for him, and he soon passed out cold.

Five minutes after midnight, the chief of police decided to call his men inside, wanting to see if the Copycat had been true to his note.

"Any sign of the Copycat yet, men?" the chief spoke into his walkie-talkie.

There was no response.

"Men? Hello?"

Still nothing.

Suddenly, alarm signals blared from within the museum. Cursing, the chief dashed up its steps and into the front lobby. There, he found that the front desk was completely unoccupied.

"Where the heck is that nighttime guard?!" the chief screamed.

Enraged, he dashed through the museum towards the room which held the Eye of Horus. There, he was met with a stunning sight: his toughest men were lying on the ground around the Eye of Horus' case, battered and dazed. The case itself was empty and the glass smashed, as was a window near the top of the room.

The chief shook one of the men awake. "What happened here?!" he yelled directly into his face.

The man moaned, "Sir, we were standing around the case when the nighttime guard came in at midnight and said he wanted to check on the Eye. He suddenly yelled that he saw some figure dashing past the window. We turned to look, and the next thing we knew we were under attack."

"Under attack?! By who?!"

"It almost didn't seem human, sir…it was covered with fur, and so dang strong…it tossed us down like rag dolls…"

Just then, one of other policemen came in and said, "Sir, we've just found the nighttime security guard inside of one of the janitor's closets."

"Trying to hide, was he, after being an accomplice to the Copycat?" the chief snarled.

The policeman stared at him. "No, sir, he had been stowed in there. Security cameras show that some person dressed entirely in black had knocked him out, bound and gagged him, and left him in there five minutes before midnight."

Now it was the chief's turn to stare. "What?! How the heck could he be stuffed in the closet _and_ in here at midnight?"

Outside of the museum, a black-clad man was standing above the smashed window, taking in every word which the policemen said. Upon hearing the police chief's last comment, he sneered and muttered, "How, indeed...What an impossible feat…" He gazed down at a gold Egyptian eye with a blue sapphire in its center clutched in his hand. "It's such a pretty and expensive Eye of Horus, yet it wasn't even a slight challenge for me to obtain it. Ah, well…perhaps in Domino I'll find something which would actually be difficult for me to take."

The man then closed his eyes. His form suddenly quivered; brown feathers grew all over his body, his mouth became a small, curved beak, and his eyes changed color into a fierce yellow.

With a small hoot, an owl flew off of the roof of the museum and soared away into the night, the Eye of Horus gripped tightly in its talons.


	2. Chapter One: The Copycat

Chapter One: The Copycat

Yugi Muto yawned and stretched as he walked downstairs, clad in his light blue pajamas. "Grandpa?" he called out towards the door which led to the back of his grandfather's game shop.

To his surprise, though, the response came not from the game shop, but from the living room. "In here, Yugi," Yugi heard his grandfather's voice call out.

Yugi walked into the living room and found his grandfather sitting on the couch, staring intensely at the television.

"Grandpa? Isn't the game shop supposed to be open now?" Yugi asked.

"It can wait. This is extremely important!" his grandfather proclaimed.

Yugi looked at the T.V. The news was currently on, showing a female reporter standing in front of a familiar stone building. "Behind me stands the Domino Museum, where the Copycat thief is supposed to pull off his next heist," the reporter said. "The Copycat thief has become the criminal at the top of almost every Japanese police station's Most Wanted lists. Although the thief has always left warning of when and what he wishes to steal, leaving behind notes signed with his insignia of a crimson cat, it seems that no matter how much security is around, the Copycat has always able to get away with his designated artifact. In the past week alone, the Copycat has already pulled off four major heists around Japan, and Domino Museum has been marked as his fifth, with the thief proclaiming that this time, he wants the Arrow of Sutekh."

The screen cut to show a glass case which held an extremely unusual looking arrow. The arrow appeared to be made of pure gold, with a head that bore an Egyptian eye with a sparkling red ruby in its center. The reporter's voice continued, "Police say they are going to take every precaution necessary in order for the Arrow to remain safe and for the Copycat to finally be behind bars-but considering the Copycat's past record, some seriously doubt that the Arrow will last another night inside of the museum."

Yugi's grandfather switched the T.V. off and sighed. "It's a terrible day when such priceless Egyptian artifacts are lost to criminals such as that one."

"How in the world can someone be able to break into so many museums and steal so many things without being caught?" Yugi questioned.

"Ridiculous, isn't it? It has gotten to the point where rumors are going around that the Copycat has some sort of 'magical power' that lets him pull off these heists!"

Yugi's grandfather laughed, but Yugi didn't reply. He stared off into space, struck by what his grandfather had just said. "Magical power?" he finally asked.

"Yes! They say that he calls himself the Copycat because he can transform himself into anything he so desires to be. So, say, if he wants to get into a museum but there are too many policemen about, all he has to do is morph into one of them, and he can just walk right in and claim his prize! The things that people will believe, huh?"

Yugi forced himself to smile a little. "Yeah, just crazy," he said, and he turned and walked out of the living room with a little laugh.

Then, once out of his grandfather's sight, he dashed over to the nearest phone and quickly dialed a number in.

After a few rings, there was a click and a sleepy " 'Lo?" on the other end.

"Joey, it's Yugi."

"Yug, it's 9 A.M," Joey groaned. "Why in de world would you call me at dis hour on a Sunday?"

"Because, Joey, I think I've just found out who exactly we need to stop next with our"-he lowered his voice-"special gifts."

There was a long pause on the other end. "Special gifts?" Joey said, sounding completely confused.

"Yes, Joey, the ones we got last week, remember? The very interesting gifts…the blue, green, orange, and pink ones…"

"Oh, _dose_ special gifts!" Joey said. "I gotcha now. What's de plan?"

"I'm going to call Tristan and Téa. Meet us at the Domino Docks in half an hour. We've got to get ready to defeat a Copycat."


	3. Chapter Two: The Plan

Chapter Two: The Plan

"Lemme get dis straight," Joey said. "Basically, dis Copycat has de ability to shift into anyone he wants, or even any_ting_ he wants, at any single moment dat he wants."

"Right," Yugi said.

"Which is why he's been able to get away with so many thefts in the past week alone, even though he always gives warning before doing so," Tristan continued.

"Mm-hmm."

"So tonight, when he comes to claim the Arrow of Sutekh, we have to make sure that we're there too, and with our magic, we have to stop him and his series of thefts once and for all," Téa finished.

"Exactly."

There was a long pause. Then Joey said, "Guys, is it just my imagination, or did we just sound like a bunch of psychos who escaped from de insane asylum?"

"It's not just you," Tristan said, rolling his eyes. True, what they'd said did sound like insanity, but that insanity had become their reality. One week ago, three mysterious beings had come to them in their dreams and proclaimed that the magical balance in their world had been shifted. They had been granted, therefore, with magical powers which would enable them to stop any sort of evil magical force and keep the magic from being discovered by non-magical beings.

"Anyway, we have to make sure that we're in the museum before the Copycat is," Yugi said. "We'll place ourselves on all sides of the room containing the Arrow of Sutekh; then, once the Copycat enters, before he can take it, we'll surround him and make sure that he can't get away this time."

"Waaait a sec- how in de world are we gonna be in de same room as dat Arrow of Sutekh when de museum is gonna be stuffed with security and policemen?" Joey asked.

"Too bad none of us have a special power that could let us just walk right in like invisibility or something," Téa said.

"Ooh, dat reminds me!" Joey cried, perking up. "I've been tryin' ta figure out which special power dat I've got, like Yug's force field ting. I haven't tried out invisibility yet! Let's see…" Joey stood still, scrunched his eyes together, and let out a small "nnnnnn" sound. Then he opened his eyes and said, "Well? Am I invisible?"

"Could be," Tristan said, stroking his chin. "All I can see is this weird-looking blond kid that was standing where you were."

Joey looked down at the ground and muttered, "Har, har," sounding like his typical self. However, Yugi noticed that all of a sudden he seemed a bit stressed and preoccupied with something. _That's strange,_ Yugi thought. _What's wrong with Joey all of a sudden? Hmm._

He then grinned at his friends. "Actually, I think there is a way for us to be able to get in the museum easily, even with all of the security around."

The others turned and looked at him. "You do?" Tristan said.

Yugi nodded. "I've been trying out different ways to use our magic this week, and just yesterday, I discovered this."

He raised both hands and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, his physical form broke down into a thousand different blue sparks of magic, all of which crashed down onto the floor.

"Yugi!!" his three friends cried in shock.

However, the sparks suddenly rose up into the air and swirled around the other three.

"Umm…Yug?" Joey asked, staring at the swirling sparks.

The sparks responded by soaring up into the air. They soared towards one of the only unbroken windows in the warehouse, but instead of shattering it, they went directly through the glass with ease. Then, the sparks reappeared through a section of the wall, flew back down in front of the three, and with the sound of a small 'snap', they rearranged themselves into Yugi's form and transformed from sparks back into flesh and blood.

Yugi grinned at his stunned friends and said, "In those forms, we should be able to access the room of the Arrow of Sutekh easily."

Tristan and Téa both nodded in awe, but Joey merely murmured, "Yep, easily." Something was definitely wrong with him.

Later that day, the four of them went over to the Domino Museum in order to find potential hiding spots in their newly dubbed "pure magic" forms around the room containing the Arrow of Sutekh. They only made sure to pass through the room two at a time and on occasion, though, since the police had already set up for the arrival of the Copycat last night, and they certainly didn't want to raise their suspicion.

When it was Joey and Yugi's turn to walk through the room again, Yugi whispered, "See the windows up there on that wall? Maybe when we surround him, one of us should be above him, so that he wouldn't have the opportunity to fly out of them."

"Yep," Joey murmured, staring vacantly ahead of them.

"Joey, is everything all right?" Yugi asked.

"Well…" Joey paused, then quietly whispered to Yugi. "Ya know how you got dat 'special ability' of yours?"

"Yes," Yugi nodded.

"Well, during dis week I've been tryin' out dose different special abilities listed in dat book Téa got, ta see which one of dem I got, ya know? And dere's hundreds of dem in dere! But I couldn't pull off even one of dem! Super strength, super speed, mind control, telekinesis…notin'!"

Yugi considered that for a moment. "Well…maybe you're not supposed to try discovering it on your own. My ability only came out while we were battling that queen, so maybe your ability will reveal itself like that as well."

"Maybe," Joey said, but he still didn't sound so sure.

Saddened by the thought that his best friend was worried and, perhaps, lacking a special ability, Yugi thought to himself, _Please, whatever forces are working out there on this magic, let Joey gain a special ability soon._


	4. Chapter Three: A Challenge

Chapter Three: A Challenge

It was midnight. Inside the room containing the Arrow of Sutekh, police troops were surrounding its glass case, drinking coffee and doing everything they could to stay awake. This time, however, there were also troops positioned at each of the room's entrances. No one, not even workers for the museum, would be allowed to enter the room except for the chief of police. This time, they would be almost certain to catch the Copycat!

At that moment, there was the sound of a small 'squeak'. The police quickly looked around and got ready to pounce at any second. Then, however, they saw the source of the squeak- a mere rat which was running through a door, across the room, and behind another glass case in the corner.

Disgusted, the policemen returned to their original positions. "Stupid rodent," one of them muttered.

Suddenly, a snarling noise resounded throughout the room. Startled, the police looked around and discovered that from behind that same glass case in the corner, some sort of monstrosity was rising. The creature stood on two legs like a human being, but its appearance was far from human. At nearly seven feet tall, it was covered from head to toe with brown, matted fur, with sharp claws peeking out from its hands and feet. The creature glared with yellow eyes and snarled at the police, revealing huge, sharp teeth.

"What-what is that thing?!" one of them cried.

Before any one of them could react, the creature came charging towards them at a surprisingly lightning-fast speed and took one of them down with a single blow to the chest. The others charged at the creature all at once, but it tossed them off with ease and sent them soaring into the walls or onto the floor. Before long, not one of them was retaining consciousness.

The creature looked around at the police sprawled on the ground, then suddenly quivered and shifted into a normal human being. The Copycat actually looked something like a cat himself, with glowing, golden-greenish eyes, short black hair, and dressed in a black sleeveless shirt with black jeans and sneakers. He rolled his eyes and faked a yawn. "Once again, it's easy pickings for me," he sighed.

He turned towards the glass case containing the Arrow of Sutekh-and was startled to discover that a shower of shimmering blue sparks was coming down in front of the case. The blue sparks arranged themselves, then transformed into a teen with tri-colored hair dressed in a blue high school uniform with a golden, pyramid-like item around his neck.

"Sorry, Copycat," the teen said, his voice deep and authoritative, "but your nine lives are up."

The teen turned around to discover that behind him, two showers of green and pink sparks came and arranged themselves into a blond teen wearing a green jacket and a pretty brunette wearing pink and yellow.

The Copycat stared at them for a few seconds, then actually grinned a cat-like grin. "Well, well, well, whaddya know? A bunch of kids who have their own little 'special gifts' as well. Perhaps this theft will be a challenge for me after all."

He then immediately shifted back into the monstrous creature; however, before he could make a move, the Pharaoh raised his arm and created a force field around him. The creature smashed against the force field, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't break through it.

Angered, the Copycat decided to try something different. With another quiver, the man shifted himself into a large sumo wrestler. The Pharaoh adjusted the force field around the Copycat, but suddenly the Copycat raised one foot and slammed it down onto the ground.

The entire room shook, sweeping the Pharaoh, Joey and Téa off of their feet. The sudden shock made the Pharaoh pull the force field down, setting the Copycat free. Grinning, the Copycat turned to the glass case which held the Arrow of Sutekh, raised a pudgy fist, and smashed it down, shattering the glass into a thousand pieces.

The museum alarm blared throughout the entire room. The Copycat quickly shifted himself into a hawk, picked up the Arrow in its talons, and soared towards the windows on the wall-

-only to suddenly be blocked by a shower of orange sparks which knocked him back down onto the ground.

Dazed, the Copycat returned to his human form, the Arrow now down by his feet. He glared at the orange sparks, which shifted themselves into another teen wearing a long brown over coat.

"You're not getting away that easily!" Tristan yelled.

The Pharaoh, Joey, and Téa, having gotten up onto their feet, ran and surrounded the Copycat on all sides, leaving him with no escape route. The Copycat looked around, then sneered, "Quite impressive, for a bunch of kids, but do you honestly think that you can stop me from claiming my prize?" he said, picking the Arrow up from the ground.

He then placed the Arrow into his mouth and, with another quiver, transformed into a lion. He jumped up and swiped at Téa, who only fell down onto the ground just in time to miss being slashed with his claws. Then, she quickly fired a beam of pink magic at his belly, sending him flying through the air. He roared, and the Arrow fell out of his open mouth.

Tristan ran over to the Arrow. "Got it!" he cried, holding it up. Suddenly, he heard a loud trumpeting sound from behind him. He turned and saw that the Copycat had shifted into an elephant, who now charged at him at full speed.

Tristan panicked for a second, but then he heard a voice yell, "Tristan! Toss it here!" The Pharaoh stood near the wall behind the elephant, hands raised.

Tristan quickly flung the Arrow over, then with his now free hand, zapped at the elephant's feet with a huge ray of orange magic. The elephant stumbled and landed on the ground with a loud THUD, making the room shake a little bit.

The Pharaoh caught the Arrow of Sutekh in his hands-and suddenly froze.

_What's wrong, Pharaoh?_ Yugi said to him in his head.

_This Arrow…_the Pharaoh said. _It contains some kind of…power…_

Suddenly he heard, "Yug, look out!"

Snapping out of it, the Pharaoh saw that the Copycat had changed into a raging bull. Before he could react, the bull caught him right between his horns and slammed him into the wall, knocking him out cold. The Arrow fell out of his limp hands.

The Copycat shifted back into his human form and picked up the Arrow. "I'll take that, thank you," he sneered.

Suddenly, he heard from behind him, "NOBODY DOES DAT TO MY BEST FRIEND YA THUG!"

He turned around to find an enraged Joey charging at him, fists raised and crackling with green sparks.

Without having time to think of something to shift into, the Copycat instead reacted using the next best thing he had: the Arrow itself.

The Copycat jabbed it directly into Joey's shoulder.

For one second, time suddenly seemed to freeze. The Arrow of Sutekh glowed with a mysterious gold light. The Copycat felt as though something was being ripped out of him; at the same time, Joey felt as though some mysterious power was growing inside of him.

The Copycat yelled and yanked the arrow up and out of Joey. The shock of the sudden stabbing and the strange feeling of power at once made Joey pass out cold on the ground.

The Copycat looked up and saw Tristan and Téa glaring at him, their hands outstretched and blazing with orange and pink magic. The Copycat prepared to shift again; however, at that moment they heard footsteps heading towards them.

"Oh no, the police!" Téa cried.

Tristan and Téa immediately snapped their fingers, transforming into a shower of orange and pink sparks. The orange sparks soared over to Joey, while the pink ones soared over to the Pharaoh. The sparks swirled around the two and transformed them into similar looking sparks, then soared up and out of the window. Cursing, the Copycat shifted into a rat and scurried away, leaving the Arrow of Sutekh lying on the ground.


	5. Chapter Four: Two of 'Em

Chapter Four: Two of 'Em

Joey slowly opened his eyes. He winced as he felt a slight pain in his shoulder. Looking around, he found that he was lying down on his bed, and a small bandage had been placed on his injured shoulder. He then saw Tristan sitting on a chair next to him, dressed in the typical Domino High uniform. "Tristan? Wha-what happened?"

"You passed out when that Copycat stabbed you in the shoulder. Man, you've been out for three days!"

"TREE DAYS?!" Joey cried, sitting straight up.

Tristan suddenly got nailed in the back of the head with a pillow. "TRISTAN! JOEY'S HAD ENOUGH SHOCKS ALREADY!" Téa screamed. She, too, was clad in a female Domino High uniform.

Téa put the pillow down and looked at Joey. "He's kidding, Joey. You've only been out for the rest of the night."

Joey glared at Tristan. "Thanks a lot, ya jerk," he said. Then he looked around and suddenly became a little worried again. "Wait-where's Yugi?"

"Calm down, Joey, he's okay. He has a slight headache and a few bruises, but other than that, he should be fine."

Just then, Yugi walked into the room, carrying his backpack. "How are you feeling, Joey?" he asked.

"Pretty good, I guess," he said, sitting up and yawning. "What time is it, by de way?"

"About five minutes until school starts," Tristan replied.

"WHAT?! Oh, man, we gotta get movin'!" Joey jumped out of bed and pointed at himself. Green sparks shot out of his hands and transformed his rumpled clothes into his school uniform.

"See ya at school, man," Tristan said, snapping his fingers. He transformed into his pure magic form of thousands of orange sparks and soared out of the room, with Téa and Yugi's pink and blue pure forms not far behind him.

Joey quickly picked up his backpack and glanced into the mirror. "Got de uniform, got de school stuff, ready ta g-" He paused suddenly, and looked more closely into the mirror. He raised a hand to his head, plucked out a hair, and looked at it.

Instead of being blond, the hair was dark as midnight. "Weird," Joey said, flicking the hair away. Then he snapped his fingers and transformed into a "pure form" of green sparks which soared out of his room and off towards Domino High.

* * *

At school, the biggest news was that the Copycat hadn't been able to pull off his heist at the Domino Museum. The police had been beaten, and the glass case had been broken, but for some reason the Copycat had just left the Arrow of Sutekh on the floor of the room.

During lunchtime, Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and Téa congregated in the empty hallway. "Okay, so at least we stalled him long enough so that Copycat didn't have a chance to take the Arrow of Sutekh with him," Tristan said.

"But that doesn't necessarily mean he's going to just give up," Téa said. "For all we know, he's out there somewhere planning his next heist."

"Well, it'll be a waste of his time, 'cause we're gonna be dere again, and dis time he's not gonna be able to get away!" Joey cried, pounding his fist in the air.

"Who won't be able to get away, Mr. Wheeler?" a voice said from behind him.

Joey whipped around and discovered that the rather nasty gym teacher was standing behind him, his arms crossed and eyes narrowed. "Oh, um, nobody sir," Joey said, quickly putting his fist down. Lying had never been one of his strong points.

"Listen, Mr. Wheeler, I'm well aware of your little track record as a street thug, so you'd better stop planning on getting whomever this guy is, or else."

Yugi began to speak: "Sir, Joey wasn't planning any-"

"I was addressing Mr. Wheeler, young man," the gym teacher interrupted, giving Yugi a nasty glare, "and I'd suggest you stay away from types such as him-a shrimp like you could easily get hurt in that thuggish world of his."

"HEY! DON'T TALK ABOUT MY BEST FRIEND LIKE DAT!" Joey yelled.

The gym teacher rolled his eyes and started walking away, but before he turned the corner, he looked back and commented: "One more thing, Mr. Wheeler-next time, you might want to try doing a better job of dying your hair and then trying to hide it."

Joey stared after him. "What de heck is he talkin' about?" He turned back to his friends and said, "Man, dat guy is a jerk AND he's nuts."

The others didn't answer. They were staring at Joey in shock. "What?" Joey asked.

"Joey, what _did_ you do to your hair?" Téa cried, holding up a mirror.

Joey stared at his reflection. Mixed in with his dark blond were streaks of black hair, some of which had turned red at the tips.

"What-what de-" he stuttered, but before he could finally speak, he saw that his eyes had slowly started changing color, from a dark brown to a striking violet. "Guys, I-I tink dere's someting wrong wit me…"

"Down to the bathroom, NOW!" Tristan screamed, shoving Joey down the hallway with Yugi and Téa hurrying behind them.

Once they reached the bathroom, Yugi ran in for one second, then quickly came back out and said, "O.K., it's unoccupied." Joey dashed inside and, with a small zap, locked the door. Then he ran and looked into the mirror. Or, at least he tried, but he suddenly found that he was a little too short to be able to gaze into it.

Horrified, Joey jumped up onto the sink, although he was nervous about what he would find in the mirror. Just in time, he saw that his hair had stuck straight up into the air and fully turned the colors of light yellow, black, and red. His clothes had slightly transformed as well, adjusting to his shorter form and gaining a blue buckle around the neck.

With a shock, Joey realized that he'd transformed into Yugi.

"How in the world did this happen?" he whispered in horror, and slapped a hand over his mouth, for his voice had shifted into Yugi's as well. "Oh, man, I've gotta figure out how to turn back."

From outside the door, he suddenly heard Tristan's voice say loudly: "Sir, we're not hiding anything!"

"Oh? Then why are all of you standing in front of the bathroom door?" With a cringe, Joey recognized the voice as the gym teacher's.

"And I've gotta do it fast," Joey muttered.


	6. Chapter Five: Figuring it all Out

Chapter Five: Figuring it all Out

"Okay, Joey, think…you discovered that first black hair this morning. What did you do before that…woke up, got shocked by stupid Tristan, worried about Yug, prepared to go to school…uggh, I've got NOTHING! What happened just now…we talked about the Copycat, stupid gym teacher came up and accused me of planning something bad, I yelled at the gym teacher for calling Yug a shrimp…wait…I worried about Yug and started becoming him, I defended Yug and continued becoming him…maybe focusing on him made me turn into him…so focusing on ME could turn me back into me!"

"I would suggest that if the three of you want to avoid a suspension, you move from that door RIGHT NOW!" the gym teacher's voice yelled.

"Aagh! C'mon, Joey, focus…FOCUS…" he shut his eyes and concentrated on his image. "You are Joey Wheeler, you've got blond hair, dark brown eyes, and you're WAY taller than this…"

After a few moments, Joey felt his body quivering. He could feel his hair moving downwards from a spiky state, his arms and legs starting to elongate, and somehow, Joey knew that his eyes had started changing color again…

* * *

"Why the heck is this door locked?!" the gym teacher yelled, rattling the doorknob with fervor as Yugi, Tristan, and Téa looked on in fear. "I swear, the minute I get this open-"

All of a sudden, the door swung inwards and the gym teacher dashed inside to find-

-Joey at the sink, washing his hands. The teacher looked around, but he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. No newly written graffiti on the wall, no toilet paper thrown up onto the ceiling-nothing.

Joey looked up at him and said, "Can I help you, sir?", trying hard to look completely innocent.

The gym teacher stared at him for a second, then muttered, "No-there's nothing…" He turned and walked out of the bathroom, his shoulders hunched and head lowered in an effort to hide the humiliated look on his face from the other three. Joey followed him out, then, once he saw the gym teacher turn the corner and disappear from sight, he looked at his stunned friends and grinned. "Close one, huh?"

"Joey, how did you do that?" Yugi asked.

"Easily," he laughed. "Seriously, dough, I tink dat I've discovered what exactly my special power is. It's some sorta power which lets me change my shape…like shape-shiftin'!"

There was a long pause, then Tristan said, "Maybe you should shift again, Joey. I dunno if this form is doing any favors for you…"

* * *

Once Yugi and Téa were able to successfully hold Joey back from attacking Tristan, the four of them walked back into the classroom to find that a television had been rolled in there. The T.V. was turned to the news channel, where a male reporter was standing in front of the Domino Museum. "We've recently gotten an update about the Copycat and his surprise failed attempt to steal the Arrow of Sutekh. Just this morning, the police found a new note taped to the door, which they assumed was the Copycat's warning that he would return. However, while the note was signed with the Copycat's insignia, its message was far from another announcement of a theft. The note read: 'Beware, Blondie, because I'm coming for you and I'm taking back that which is mine!' Who exactly the mysterious 'Blondie' is remains a mystery."

The other kids immediately began talking about what in the world the Copycat was up to. "Maybe 'Blondie' is some nickname for another artifact at the museum." "Maybe it's a girlfriend who dumped him." "You think he might be talking about some policeman? Bet he wouldn't be too happy about being called 'Blondie'…"

"Huh. Weird. Wonder who de heck Blondie is…" Joey said, sitting down at his desk.

"Wait…Joey, I think he's talking about you!" Yugi whispered to him.

"ME?! Why de heck would he be out ta get me?" Joey whispered back. "I didn't even get a chance ta hit im!"

"Guys, look at this!" Téa silently cried. She'd pulled at an old, tattered book called _A Hero's Guide to Superpowers and the Supernatural_ from her backpack, put it onto Joey's desk, and opened it to a particular page. She pointed at the drawing on it of a familiar-looking arrow.

"Hey, isn't that the Arrow of Sutekh?" Yugi said.

The book read:

_Sutekh's Arrow_

_Sutekh was the ancient Egyptian god whom thieves would always pray to for a successful heist. Widely renowned for his skill with a bow and arrow, Sutekh's Arrow was created during the days of ancient Egypt as a symbol for both Sutekh's archery talent and his thievery. Jabbing Sutekh's arrow into a being that contained some sort of special power would 'steal' the power from the being and give it to the wielder of the Arrow. Due to this power, many thieves have attempted to steal the arrow over time in an attempt to steal a special ability from another; however, those who do are always met with a shock, for the _opposite_ occurs (meaning a special ability would be transferred from the thief to the stabbed one) with thieves due to Sutekh not appreciating those who dared to steal from the god of thievery himself._

There was a long pause, then Yugi whispered, "Wait a second-Joey, that shape-shifting power isn't yours…it's the Copycat's! The Arrow 'stole' it from him and gave it to you when he stabbed you with it!"

"Oh…dat would explain why he's suddenly got it out for me…oh man, what do we do now?"

"Maybe you don't really have to do anything," Tristan said. "The Copycat's coming for you, but you stole his power, right? So all you've got to do is wait until he finds you, then you can take him down with his own shape-shifting, and turn him into the police!"

"Heey, you're right!" Joey leaned back in his chair and placed his feet onto his desk. "So all I've gotta do is wait…C'mere, kitty, kitty!"

Tristan gave a small laugh, but Yugi and Téa didn't look as certain as the other two did. _Somehow, I've got the feeling that it's not going to be as easy as it seems…_Yugi thought.


	7. Chapter Six: Cat and Teen Fight

Chapter Six: Cat (and Teen) Fight

Late that night, Joey was wandering around Domino's park. Since the full moon shone in the night sky, he was staying close to the open areas so that the Copycat could easily see him if he were out there. "C'mon, you stupid cat…I've been walkin' around Domino all day! Sheesh, it's not like dis town is the size of Manhattan or anyting…"

Unbeknownst to him, Yugi, Tristan, and Téa were close by, staying in the shadows of the trees. "Yug, why in the world are we here?" Tristan moaned. "I think Joey should be able to take the Copycat down by himself, especially if the Copycat technically isn't a copycat anymore..."

"I just have a feeling, Tristan," Yugi said. "I think we'll need to be here if the Copycat comes…"

"You know Joey would be ticked if he heard you doubting his power like this, right?"

"Tristan, I'm sure Yugi doesn't doubt Joey's power," Téa murmured, looking through the _Guide_ again. "If he thinks we should be here, then it must be for good reason…"

At that moment, the sound of twigs cracking came from the shadows on the opposite side. Joey whipped around towards the noise and grinned. "Hmm, I wonder who dat could be…" he joked. He then raised his voice and cried, "Hey, Copycat! Is dat you?"

The answer that came was a loud roar. Joey's grin was replaced by a confused look. "Huh?"

In the shadows, the other three stared in horror, and Tristan murmured, "Oh, boy."

Then, from out of the shadows came the tall, hairy beast the Copycat had shifted into last night. The beast glared at Joey with an extremely livid look, and then did something shocking.

It spoke.

"I've found you," the creature said in a low, growling voice.

"You can talk?!" Joey cried. Then he realized the more important matter at hand: "Wait…how can you still be shape-shiftin'?!"

The creature snarled. "You thought you got all of my power? Think again, kid…you've only gotten the part which lets me copy humans! Everything else is still mine!"

"Erk," was all Joey could say.

Yugi whispered, "I knew this wasn't going to be easy…"

Once Joey got over the initial shock, he quickly tried to reason with the Copycat. "But, uh, if you can still shift into everyting else, den dere's no reason why you really need ta attack me, right?", he said, trying to grin without looking afraid.

"WRONG, KID!" the creature screamed, raising one of its claws. Joey screamed and quickly jumped up and floated on the air as the Copycat slashed at where he had stood. "WITHOUT THE POWER THAT _YOU_ HAVE, I CAN'T EVEN SHIFT BACK INTO MY OWN HUMAN FORM! I'M STUCK IN GROTESQUE FORMS LIKE THIS ONE!" He murmured menacingly, "That's why I need you…TO GET ALL OF MY POWER BACK!"

With that, the Copycat suddenly quivered and shifted into a large, gold and red bird with deep red, piercing eyes. The bird let out a loud roar and suddenly became engulfed in flames.

"A phoenix?!" Joey cried.

The bird then raised its neck and suddenly shot a stream of fire out of its mouth and directly at Joey. Joey yelped and barely managed to soar out of the flame's path. "Oh man…" he said.

Yugi's Millennium Puzzle glowed with a golden light, and the Pharaoh took over. He quickly turned to Téa and said, "Téa, do you think you could find something about shape-shifters in that book?"

"I'll look," she said, quickly flipping through the pages.

The Pharaoh nodded, then turned to Tristan and said, "C'mon, Tristan, we've got to help him!" The two of them dashed out of the shadows, and Tristan yelled up to the bird, "Hey Copycat, why don't you pick on someone with all of your powers for once?!"

Both the Copycat and Joey looked down at them in shock. Joey, however, was able to quickly see the opportunity he needed. He zapped at the bird with green magic, sending it spiraling down to the ground. The Pharaoh then formed a large force field around it, trapping the bird inside. "Got him!" he yelled.

The bird turned and glared at the Pharaoh, then suddenly quivered again and started growing larger and larger. The Pharaoh attempted to contain the Copycat within the field, but finally he became too much to contain, leaving the Pharaoh with no choice but to release him.

The Copycat had become a dragon with black scales, golden eyes, and a long black tail with what appeared to be a shiny silver axe attached at the end. With a loud roar, the dragon swung its tail at the Pharaoh and Tristan.

The two of them quickly soared up and out of the axe's path. The axe slashed instead the trees which had been behind them, slicing them in half. Téa shrieked and ran back as the tree tops came falling towards her. She quickly went back to flipping through the book, saying, "C'mon, there must be something in here!"

The Pharaoh, Joey, and Tristan, meanwhile, were zapping at the dragon with all of their strength, but their magic barely seemed to affect the powerful creature. They had to keep soaring to new locations, desperately trying to avoid being sliced by the dragon's axe.

Finally, Tristan yelled, "Guys, we can't keep this up forever!"

"Aw, man, dere's gotta be SOMETING we can do!" Joey yelled in exasperation, zapping at the dragon once more.

"If only my special ability were strong enough to contain him," the Pharaoh said, "but it doesn't have that type of power yet!"

Joey suddenly stopped. He stared off into space, a slow realization coming to him. "I wonder…" he murmured.

Then he looked at the Pharaoh and called, "Hey, Yug! Ya tink you can put up a force field around me?"

"What for?"

"Just do it! I tink I know what we could do, but I need ta concentrate!"

"Oh great, we're screwed," Tristan muttered.

The Pharaoh nodded at Joey, then raised his hands and placed a force field around him. "Tristan, distract the Copycat for a moment!" he cried.

Tristan yelled, "Hey, Copycat!" When the Copycat turned and looked at him, he pulled down one eyelid and stuck out his tongue. "PBBBBT!" Enraged, the Copycat soared after him, thrashing its tail this way and that.

Closing his eyes, Joey focused on the image of the Pharaoh. He felt his body quiver and shift, changing into a form similar to the one he had shifted into earlier, but taller and with extra yellow streaks in the hair.

Once he felt the transformation was complete, Joey opened his eyes and held out his (the Pharaoh's) hand in front of him. "Please, please, please…" he murmured, concentrating with all of his might.

A tiny force field appeared in the palm of his hand. "YES!" he cried, pounding a fist into the air.

The Pharaoh and Tristan looked at the tiny force field in shock. "You can copy people's special abilities, too?!" Tristan whispered in awe, making sure the Copycat didn't hear him.

The Pharaoh grinned. "Now I see what your plan is!" He took the force field around Joey down and started conjuring up a new one around the Copycat.

The Copycat noticed the force field and thought, _Stupid kid, didn't you already try this?_

However, he suddenly noticed a second layer appear over the first, making the force field stronger than ever. The Copycat turned and saw that _two_ of the tri-colored hair kids were floating below him, holding their hands out and creating a field around him. He quickly tried growing and thrashing his way out of the field, but there was no escaping its doubled power.

Téa then dashed out of the shadows, the book held open in her hands, and cried, "I've got something! It's a binding spell which can trap a shape-shifter in a particular form!"

"Don't just stand there, say it!" Joey/the Pharaoh called down to her.

Téa looked at the book and chanted:

"_Evil shifter into any shape,_

This _is the only form you shall now take!"_

Téa's hands glowed with her pink magic. She held one of them up, and a ray went soaring up and through the force field, directly into the Copycat's belly.

The Copycat screamed in horror as his entire body glowed with blinding pink magic. The Copycat's being started shrinking, shifting and twisting until the spell ended and all that remained in the force field was-

-a black cat.

Everyone stared at the Copycat, who looked at the rest of them for a moment, then lifted a paw and calmly started to lick it.

Joey and the Pharaoh took the force field down, and Tristan caught the cat before it could start falling. As the boys floated down to the ground, they were shocked to see that the cat didn't even attempt to escape; instead, it just curled up in Tristan's arms, shut its eyes, and fell asleep.

Once on the ground, Joey shifted back into his true shape, then looked at the black cat and said, "Um, Copycat? Aren't you gonna try ta get away or someting?"

The Copycat didn't even lift its head at the sound of his name; it simply continued sleeping and even let out a soft purr.

"Why isn't he trying to flee?" the Pharaoh wondered.

"Oh, here's why," Téa said, glancing back at the book. "The spell makes the shape-shifter forget that it was ever anything _but _the form it's bounded in." She closed the book and placed it under her arm, then used her other one to start stroking the cat. "You're just a harmless little kitty now, aren't you?" she cooed.

"So what do we do with him?" Tristan asked.

"I think there's a simple solution for that," the Pharaoh replied.


	8. Chapter Seven: Return to Normalcy

Chapter Seven: Return to Normalcy (sort of)

"You say you found this little one out in the street?" the woman at the animal shelter said incredulously, stroking the former Copycat as it slept in her arms.

"Yes, Miss. It had no collar or anything, so we thought it might just be a stray and brought it here hoping it could find a better home," Yugi said. Joey, Tristan, and Téa nodded.

"It's in particularly good shape, especially for a stray," she said. "There's not even a single flea on it." She cuddled it in her arms, and the cat started purring. The woman smiled and said, "It's an absolute dear. You four won't have to worry; I'm positive someone will adopt him right away."

After school the next day, Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and Téa met at the Domino docks once more.

"I went and checked to see how the Copycat was doing at the shelter," Yugi said. "He was getting adopted right at that moment, and," he smiled, "he seemed pretty content with his new family."

"Well, I'm not all that happy that after all he did he's getting to live the good life, but it's better that he's with them instead of out stealing priceless artifacts," Tristan said.

"Speaking of which, did you hear the news? The police think they might have been able to locate where the Copycat hid all of the treasures he stole." Téa said. "They may even be closing in on it this very minute!"

"So everything has turned out for the best," Yugi said.

Tristan and Téa nodded, but Joey didn't respond. He was sitting on a crate, looking as though he were deep in thought about something.

"What's wrong, Joey?" Yugi asked.

"Huh?" Joey said, snapping out of it. "Oh, well, I was wonderin' someting-why did I only get part of de Copycat's power and not de full package deal? I mean, de Arrow of Sutekh was supposed to transfer it from him ta me…"

The other three considered that for a moment, then Téa suggested, "Well, maybe since the Copycat only stabbed it into you for a second, the Arrow didn't have enough time to transfer all of his power to you."

"Aw, man…" Joey groaned. "I got gypped outta turnin' myself into a dragon or someting cool like dat…"

"Don't worry so much about that, Joey," Yugi said. "Considering what you did last night, I think you'll be able to get a lot out of your ability, even if it isn't at its full potential."

"Yeah, who knows, man?" Tristan grinned. "You might even be able to shift yourself into someone who can attract girls easily."

Joey looked at him for one second, then closed his eyes and shifted himself into…Tristan. He looked down at himself, then looked back up and said, "Nope, I don't think this form would cut it."

Tristan charged after him in a rage; Joey shifted back into himself as he ran and laughed, "Oh, man, dat was so worth it!"

Yugi and Téa watched them run around the warehouse and sighed. "Well, at least everything's back to normal again," Téa said.

"Or," Yugi said as Joey and Tristan started zapping at each other with green and orange sparks of magic, "as normal as it can be."


End file.
